Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (13.07.10) reports that Huseyin
Ozgurgun, TRNC foreign affairs minister, stated that instead of
negotiating seriously and with good will, the Greek Cypriot side is
continuing to poison the positive climate which should be created on
the island.

In a written statement yesterday, Ozgurgun recalled the agreement
between the leaders to avoid provocative statements and accused
Christofias leadership of exploiting every opportunity internationally
and on the island itself to accuse Turkey as occupier and colonizer.

He said that the Greek Cypriot side tries to create difficulties in the
negotiations and added that while the property issue is being discussed
in the negotiations, the Greek Cypriot side is trying to set
pre-conditions such as territorial adjustments and the Turkish
settlers. Ozgurgun claimed that the Greek Cypriot side has panicked
because of the good will and the determination of the Turkish Cypriot
side in the negotiations.

Turkish daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (13.07.10) reports that Kudret
Ozersay, special representative of the Turkish Cypriot leadership, and
Erhan Ercin, EU affairs coordinator at the Prime Ministers office, are
in Brussels for contacts. Ozersay and Ercin are reported to have
contacts with officials of both the European Parliament and the
European Council, concerning the Direct Trade Regulation and the
negotiations process on the Cyprus problem.

(EA)

[03] Turkeys main opposition party leader is set to visit the occupied
areas

Turkish daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (13.07.10) reports that the leader
of Turkeys main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), Kemal
Kilicdaroglu, will visit the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus
between July 19-20. The CHP spokesman and deputy chairman, Hakki Suha
Okay, said this will be Kilicdaroglus first visit abroad as the CHP
leader.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (13.07.10) reports that the
police of the breakaway regime arrested a 47-year-old Greek Cypriot in
occupied Famagusta area the day before yesterday, because he was taking
photos of the occupied closed city of Varosha. A police statement noted
that the vehicle and the camera of the Greek Cypriot were kept as
evidence. Interrogation is continuing.

Under the title Syrian businessmen are coming to the TRNC, Turkish
Haberaktuel website (13.07.10, haberaktuel.com) reports that a
delegation of Syrian businessmen headed by Bahattin Hasan, member of
the parliament and co-chairman of the Turkish-Syrian Business Council,
is visiting the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus today.

According to the report, the delegation will examine the environment
for investment and trade in the TRNC especially of citrus fruits and
dairy products. Bahattin Hassan said in a statement that during their
visit to the TRNC they will determine the fields for future
cooperation, noting that representatives of all sectors are
participating in his delegation. He stressed that as the Syrian
business world they support Turkeys policy on Cyprus, because this
policy aims at peace and unification of the island.

He said cooperation agreements with civilian organizations in the TRNC,
may be signed and added: We are representatives of the private sector.
If we have trade relations with the administration of south Cyprus, why
should we not have trade relations with our brothers in the north?

He also pointed out that the character of the trade and economic
relations started to change with the Free Trade Agreement between
Turkey and Syria, which entered into force in 2007, and that they are
heading towards a strategic partnership with firm steps.

Under the title Amaranta up for auction, Turkish Cypriot Cyprus Today
newspaper (weekend, 10.07.10) reports that Amaranta Valley part-built
villas complex, constructed by Gary Robb on Greek Cypriot land at
occupied Klepini village in Keryneia area, is to be put up for
auction.

The decision was taken by Girne District Court following a lawsuit by a
buyer who had won a court case for repayment of £34,950 and additional
£4,100 for damages. A date has yet to be set for the auction.

A statement by Ron Hugo, on behalf of the Amaranta Buyers Committee,
said more than 200 mostly expat buyers stood to lose any claim on the
land, worth an estimated £10 million, because of the legal move. More
than £4.8 million were paid in instalments to Aga Construction boss,
Gary Robb, for homes that were never completed. Because Robb failed to
pay the money dictated by the TRNC courts, a sale order was sought and
granted three years ago, but was hushed up until this week.

The paper says that Robb was deported to the UK in January last year to
stand trial on serious drug charges. His citizenship, which had been
reinstated on appeal, was scrapped by the government last year.

Hugo said Robbs guilty plea to the drugs charges and subsequent jailing
this week meant he was a criminal on the run when he came to the TRNC
and, accordingly, should never have been made a citizen a fact which
enabled him to set up his construction company.

He added that more than 400 people have been affected. A great many of
the buyers have been waiting for almost six years for their homes to be
completed whilst paying rent of second mortgages.

A delegation of buyers of the Homebuyers-Pressure Group and United Aga
Buyers, met with former TRNC President Rauf Denktas yesterday.
According to the buyers, Denktas has promised to take up the issue with
President Dervis Eroglu, Prime Minister Irsen Kucuk and Finance
Minister Ersin Tatar.

The paper says that Amaranta Valley, built on former Greek Cypriot land
at Klepini village, was Robbs most ambitious project which began in
December 2004. Millions of pounds were paid to Robb, who fled to
Thailand in July 2005 amid claims that the money for Amaranta and other
building projects had run out. He negotiated his return to the occupied
areas to complete the building projects, but several attempts to resume
work failed.

The buyers say they are at an impasse as Gary Robb still remains, in
theory, the owner of the land and add: His identity card has been
removed and so he cannot sell, transfer of even give away the land at
Klepini or issue title deeds for property. Nor can he appoint a power
of attorney. The buyers have neither the money nor the ability to form
a company to participate in the auction and describe their situation as
disparate since.

Marian Stokes of the buyers-pressure group said: The government that
deported Robb made no provisions for his victims. What is going to
happen to the land that is in his name? People have paid, some in full,
and their whole life savings have gone into Amaranta. Now they could
end up with nothing.

The issue of the illegal Turkish Cypriot airlines (KTHY) is still on
the agenda in the occupied part of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
newspaper (13.07.10) reports that three opposition parties and one
independent MP submitted yesterday to the assembly a motion for an
inquiry against the self-styled prime minister, Irsen Kucuk and his
cabinet, arguing that the government is responsible for the situation
in the KTHY.

The motion submitted by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), the Social
Democracy Party (TDP), the Democratic Party (DP) and independent MP
Ejder Aslanbaba says that the 35-year old national airline of the TRNC
has been dissolved as a result of the agreement made with Atlas Jet
airlines.

According to the regulations of the assembly, the body should notify
Kucuk and his cabinet and the issue should be discussed within seven
days. The plenary of the assembly will decide whether an inquiry will
be launched.

Meanwhile, Kibris newspaper (13.07.10) also reports that Mehmet
Dolmaci, chairman of the Turkish Cypriot Hoteliers Union (KITOB), said
that the tourism sector suffered the biggest blow as a result of the
crisis in the KTHY. Speaking to KIBRIS TV, Dolmaci noted that 15-20% of
reservations in the hotels for July have been cancelled and warned that
this percentage might increase in August and September. He called for
measures and pointed out that 30% of the tourists to the occupied areas
were carried by the KTHY. He noted that while an increase of around
10%, was expected, the opposite is happening. He said that the
occupancy rate of the hotels this July fell by 50% in comparison to the
same period last year. This means fatal consequences will be caused by
the end of the year. He said that organizations in the tourism section
are contemplating to establish their own aviation company and lease
airplanes to carry tourists to the occupied areas in 2011.

Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (13.07.10) reports that the
Producers Associations platform, in a joint statement during a press
conference yesterday in the Chamber of Tradesmen and Craftsmen, stated
that lack of forethought, planning, determination and selfishness
corroded the country and leads to disintegration.

The Chamber of Tradesmen and Craftsmen chairman, Hurrem Tulga, said
that for the first time the number of new enterprises is double the
number of enterprises closing down. He said that paying 25% or more
interest is like an unofficial bankruptcy announcement and added that
conditions that would sustain enterprises should be created.

On the same topic, the chairman of the Citrus producers association,
Mehmedali Aybar, said that public sector institutions are being
Turkified under the pretext of privatization. Aybar argued that a big
portion of the deposits in the TRNC central bank are transferred to
Turkey and said that producers willing to take loans from Cypriot banks
have to do so with 35% interest, while loans with 8% interest are given
to deposits transferred to Turkey with the intervention of the TRNC
central bank.

In his statements, Aybar also said that Turkeys Aid Delegation, while
offering 2.5 million Turkish pounds (1.28 million euro) support to
3,000 local producers, it gives 14 million Turkish pounds (7.1 million
euro) support to 3 Turkish merchants.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris newspaper (13.07.10) reports that Eastern
Mediterranean University (DAU) was represented in the annual meeting of
the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), which took place
last week in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Dr Mustafa Tumer, who represented
the university, informed the ICSB of the 2nd International Congress for
Small Enterprises, to be held in the occupied area between 24-27
February 2011. The congress is organised by the Management Department
of DAU and is supported by the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry.

According to the newspaper, the president of ICSB, Annette St-Onge,
said she would gladly participate as a speaker.

Ankara Anatolia news agency (12.07.10) reported from Ankara that the
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the U.S. State Secretary
Hillary Clinton had a telephone conversation on Monday.

According to diplomatic sources, Davutoglu and Clinton discussed
cooperation in dealing with terrorism, steps to be taken about Irans
nuclear programme, as well as the diplomatic process that would be
pursued. It was also reported that the two officials took up Israels
attack on a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. Davutoglu
reiterated the importance of establishing an international commission
to investigate the attack. Sources said Clinton conveyed her views to
Davutoglu on her visit to the Caucasus, while Davutoglu relayed his
views regarding his visit to the Balkans.

Turkish daily Todays Zaman newspaper (13.07.10) reports that a
ministerial-level meeting between Turkey and the European Union is to
be held today in Istanbul, with a wide range of issues on the agenda
with regard to strategic aspects of cooperation between the EU and the
candidate country.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the chief EU negotiator and
State Minister Egemen Bagis, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy,
Catherine Ashton, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule, as well as
officials from the European Commission and the EU Council, will
participate in the meeting.

We will discuss not only the negotiation process but also all regional
and global issues, Upon our request, counterterrorism efforts are also
included in the agenda. Our prior expectation was to have more and
effective support from both the European Commission and the member
countries against this trouble called terrorism, Bagis said.

In addition, as the paper writes, the Turkish governments ongoing
efforts for a constitutional reform, the dispute between the five
permanent UN Security Council members and Germany (P5+1) and Turkeys
neighbour Iran and the latters controversial nuclear programme, the
Middle East peace process and the western Balkans are some of the items
also on the agenda.

Turkish daily Todays Zaman newspaper (13.07.10) reports that Turkey and
Serbia signed a number of agreements, expanding cooperation between the
two countries despite past tensions. According to the paper, the two
countries signed yesterday six agreements including one on
visa-exemption and one on cooperation in the construction sector. The
visa-free travel agreement with Serbia brings the number of countries
Turkish citizens can visit without a visa to 62.

Turkish Airlines is also in talks to buy Serbias main airline, Jat
Airways. Erdogan said his government would and back further cooperation
in area of aviation. He also described his talks in Serbia as
productive and said they political, military, economic, cultural and
administrative relations were reviewed, the paper writes.

Erdogan visited Serbia after attending a ceremony commemorating the
15th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Serbian President Boris Tadic was also present at the ceremony.

Furthermore, Erdogan said that Turkey and Serbia confirmed their
determination to improve cooperation on regional issues, particularly
on supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.

Turkish Hurriyet Daily News (12.07.10) reports on the meeting of the
Turkish President Abdullah Gul with his Zambian counterpart Rupiah
Bwezani Banda in Ankara on Monday.

Explaining that Turkey is focusing on enhancing political and,
especially, economic ties with African countries, the paper reports on
statement of the Turkish President during a press conference that
Turkey is ready to improve cooperation with Zambia in the fields of
agriculture, mining, energy and transportation. Turkey will pay close
attention to the African continent and especially to Zambia. The paper
adds that agreements to establish channels for political consultations,
as well as agreements on civil aviation and training of diplomats, were
signed during the visit. The two countries are working on more
agreements focusing on economic relations.

Gul also said Turkey is to open an embassy in Zambia as part of a wider
programme to launch diplomatic missions in Africa with a view to
improve economic, trade and political ties as well as to help them
overcome their problems. Gul said he has paid frequent visits to
African countries and noted Turkey the support Turkey received from
nearly all the African countries for a non-permanent seat at the UN
Security Council.

Writing in Hurriyet, Fatih Cekirge notes that the Turkish media
approach on the war on the PKK has not changed since 1986 and confirms
this by citing relevant headlines. Criticizing the government for
acting as if it is making an overture but in fact is doing nothing and
also for not displaying the courage to realize changes, Cekirge says:
"A solution is impossible with only weapons, democracy is impossible
with rage, and politics is impossible with hatred. Do you not
understand?"

In an article in Milliyet, Kadri Gursel says that the Kurdish overture
has exposed the "separatist Turks" who dream about living in a
"Kurd-free Turkey", but he adds: "The truth is that a Kurd-free Turkey
is an anti-utopia and is a dream of a bad and dark future," Gursel
says, adding that under such circumstances it will be understood in a
tragic manner that division will not to resolve the Kurdish problem. A
country that forces its citizens to migrate in order to become
homogeneous, cannot become democratic, Gursel says pointing out that:
"It will become a pariah in the international arena. Therefore forget
about Europe." Moreover, he adds, "the economy of a country that forces
its labour force to migrate will shrink. Therefore forget about
prosperity!"

In an article in Yeni Safak, columnist Yasin Aktay comments on
allegations, "confirmed by witnesses," of mistreatment of the corpses
of PKK militants killed in clashes with Turkish security forces. He
warns that if these claims are true, then there is a very serious human
issue.

Yeni Safak hosts a commentary by Associate Professor Emre Uslu of
Yeditepe University entitled "Democratic initiative decreases the
number of militants joining the PKK". Professor Uslu argues that the
average age of PKK militants killed in clashes with Turkish troops has
increased from 20 in the 1990s to 25 in the past few months. This, he
says, indicates that the Government's democratic overture has resulted
in a decrease in the number of people joining the "terrorist group".

In an article in Hurriyet Daily News, Gulnur Aybet views the
deterioration in the ties between Turkey and Israel since the Israeli
raid on Gaza in 2009 and speaks about the regional repercussions of a
decision to break off ties with Israel. Drawing attention to the role
that Britain should play in this crisis, Aybet calls for an
international inquiry with or without Israel's consent and the
establishment of an international monitoring mission to check cargo
ships bound for Gaza, as a stop-gap measure to avoid a future tragedy.

In an interview in Ramallah to Bunyamin Aygun of Milliyet, Palestinian
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad speaks about the peace talks with the
Netanyahu government, the impact of the deterioration in the
Turkish-Israeli ties, the ties with the Palestinian Authority, and the
plans to establish an independent Palestinian state in 2011.

An article by Asli Aydintasbas in Milliyet refers to the
Netanyahu-Obama meeting and Washington's efforts to repair ties between
Israel and Turkey and argues that the United States is trying to
establish an international commission for the investigation of the
flotilla raid. In such a case, tension may drop and Israel may be
forced to pay damages, notes Aydintasbas and adds that Turkey will then
be able to say that her demands have been met and as a result, ties
between the two countries may enter a process of normalization.

Hikmet Bila writing in Vatan, refers to the interview to Newsweek
(09.07.10 - Davutoglu: We are part of the west) by Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu in which, Bila says, the Foreign Minister accuses the
international community of not siding with Turkey and of not condemning
Israel for the raid on the aid flotilla. The writer argues that the
international community will merely laugh at the fact that the Turkish
foreign minister challenges both Israel and the international
community, and adds: "The stand adopted the Foreign Ministry goes
beyond being harmful and points to a dangerous tendency. To ignore the
international community and the international institutions and to say
'I will act alone' means to also take the risk of turning Turkey into
an isolated country and into a target in the eyes of the world."

c) CHP's proposal to reduce election threshold

Yusuf Kanli in a commentary in Hurriyet Daily News, criticizes the
tyranny of the party leaders in Turkey and praises the proposal of
Republican People's Party, (CHP) to reduce the election threshold to
7%, adding: "This is the first time that the CHP came up officially
with such a proposal that reflected a change in the mentality of the
main opposition party."

d) Economy

Citing a study by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, an editorial in
Hurriyet Daily News draws attention to Turkeys has transformation from
food exporter to importer and says: "The notion that Turkey must
somehow 'pick' whether to be an industrial or agrarian society is a
false choice. It can and should be both."
TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION http://www.moi.gov.cy/pio